


Man Of A Thousand Faces

by DigitalThespian



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Emotional Manipulation, F/M, Manipulation, Persona 5 Protagonist Has A Palace, Second Chances
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-23
Updated: 2019-12-23
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:15:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21918928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DigitalThespian/pseuds/DigitalThespian
Summary: Something was wrong; Ryuji had jokingly said Akira's name into the Meta-Nav, but..Match Found.This couldn't be happening, Persona users couldn't have Palaces....Right?
Relationships: Kurusu Akira/Niijima Makoto, Niijima Makoto/Persona 5 Protagonist
Comments: 10
Kudos: 119





	Man Of A Thousand Faces

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Behind the Mask](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10788855) by [SharkbaitSekki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharkbaitSekki/pseuds/SharkbaitSekki). 



> Hi I'm alive have something literally no one asked for in a fandom I've never written for before  
> This might get improved later, but I think it expresses the emotions I was going for as is, so here ya go

The Phantom Thieves found themselves in a mirrored room, a simple dome made up of hundreds—if not _thousands_ —of seamlessly fit mirrors. Skull furrowed his brow. "What the hell..?"

"Another day, another mask." A voice rang out through the room, and they looked up to see a balcony—which had not been there before—with a figure standing on it, facing away.

Joker. " _No_.." Queen covered her mouth in horror. Surely there was a mistake, an error with the Meta-Nav, Joker wouldn't— _couldn't_ —

Not-Joker turned and smiled, the expression sinister and _wrong_ over the figure's yellow eyes. A Shadow. It was true, then. This really was Akira's palace. "Isn't that what everyone wants? To see what they want to see? They never want to see _you_ ," No, it has to be a trick, an impostor!

He leaned in from where he stood on the balcony, looking down at the assembled thieves. "They just want you to be convenient. To be whatever they need at that moment. If you can be what people _want_ to see.."

He stood tall, gesturing widely with both arms as the mirrored walls fell away, revealing a dark, empty Yongen-Jaya. If it's a trick, they know who Joker really is. That means.. " _They'll never see it coming_."

* * *

Akira woke in the morning, slipping easily and instantly into his mild-mannered day-to-day personality. He scratched Morgana on the head affectionately with a small smile before moving to gather his things to get ready for the day.

As he descended the stairs, his posture and expression shifted ever so slightly to accommodate the slight smirk and easy casual grace he needed for his morning banter with Sojiro. "Hey Boss, what's for breakfast?"

"The same thing as always, do you see any other food on the sign out there?" Sojiro shot back, but his tone lacked any real malice.

Akira chuckled, the second half of his disguise falling into place. Two parts, to allow Sojiro to see the walls 'come down'; never knowing that the 'unguarded' Akira he had grown to know and love was just another layer, another mask he wore in his never-ending existential gambit.

"Fair enough. Say, Sojiro.."

* * *

He finished breakfast, waving lazily to Sojiro as he left, and not a moment was wasted after rounding the corner; the Hierophant mask fell away to be replaced by that of the mild-mannered boy once more, quiet and unassuming. He made his way to the station. He boarded a train, managing to snag a seat. He took out a book and began to read.

* * *

The train pulled into the station, and he stood leisurely. He went with the flow of the crowd, in no particular rush. He spotted Ann from across the platform, and as easy as breathing, he became the emotionally sensitive, perceptive boy that had so quickly won her undying trust and loyalty.

She spotted him, waving excitedly, and he smiled back. No need to wave, she clearly saw him. "Hey Ann."

"Akira! Are you ready for tonight's Mementos run?" Ann bounced on the balls of her feet slightly. "I can't wait to kick some butt! That guy won't be hurting any more cats on _our_ watch!"

Morgana popped his head out of Akira's bag. "Yeah! You tell it Lady Ann!"

The three had a good chuckle, fueled by their eagerness to press on in the name of justice and righteousness. Soon enough, the train to school arrived, and they were on their way.

* * *

"Yo! You up to hit that ramen place?" Ryuji grinned at him from his usual place by the stairs, and Akira matched his easy confidence.

"You know it. Bet I can finish a bowl before you."

"Oh, it is _on_!"

Ryuji was an easy one. A bit of brash confidence, a whole hell of a lot of righteous indignance. "Loser pays?"

"Deal."

* * *

"Yo, kid. You bring that bag back?" Iwai had been a more interesting challenge, but Akira figured out early on that unfettered bravado and a scathing wit were the keys to this particular safe.

"I want in."

"Ha! You've got guts, kid."

* * *

Mishima sat nervously across from him, and Akira felt the confident mentor demeanor wash over him without even thinking. "So.. would that be helpful?"

"I think The Phantom Thieves would be glad to know someone has their back; after all, doesn't every secretive group need their Q?"

Mishima looked confused. "Queue? Why would they—Oh! You meant the guy from James Bond! And it was a play off a queue at a store, since I run the Phan-Site, which queues up targets—you're so clever, Akira!"

Yes, yes he was. And the best part was, he didn't even need to have anything clever in mind. He left a blank and told you to fill it, and you fell for it; hook, line, and sinker.

* * *

Makoto was a genuinely entertaining challenge; he had needed to brush up on his suave mannerisms, and it wasn't often that he needed that sort of edge.

But in the end..

"I could be your study partner." He had her in the palm of his hand.

Just like everyone else.

* * *

"Golden Dragon Wingstrike!" Hifumi stood triumphantly, her arm still outstretched over the winning move of the game. "O-Oh, er.."

"You win again. Well played, Queen of the Golden Dragon." Akira smiled and bowed slightly. Her behavior was childish, some might say, but he found it endearing.

It helped that her sort of guileless cunning was an open door as far as he was concerned. Great general she may be; great spymaster she was not.

* * *

"Would that be useful? I know it's not much, but.." Haru seemed unsure, and Akira reached out a hand to touch her shoulder reassuringly.

"It will be of great use to us; we need every edge we can get in the Metaverse. And don't sell yourself short either; you bring a lot to the table on your own, Haru. Or should I say.. Noir." Haru just wanted to be seen. She had lived her life under the thumb of others, and she yearned to be let loose, to wreak havoc on those who had wronged her in the name of her freedom.

Akira could use that kind of bloodlust. Even better, he hardly had to lift a finger. She had no idea that she had come to him to have her collar taken off..

Only to willingly hand him the lead.

* * *

Akechi was a prick. Akira ground his teeth internally, even as he smiled politely, matching Akechi blow-for-blow on the verbal battlefield.

The fool thought they were equals, but in the end Akira knew the truth.

At the end of the day, Akechi was going to die, dancing according to the whims of a puppet-master he was furiously chasing after, not knowing he was being baited every step of the way.

Akira considered letting him know, just before he died, so he would know he had been outplayed from the start.

But no. Akira would allow him that small mercy; he would let him die _thinking_ he had made a choice that meant something, that made a difference.

What an idiot.

* * *

Yusuke was laughably easy. He wore his heart on his sleeve; the only trouble had been the very beginning when Akira hadn't known he was someone he needed to care about in the first place.

Then Madarame's palace showed him just how useful Fox could be. Yusuke he could take or leave, but Fox..

Fox was a _powerhouse_. He could always count on Fox to cut down anything he was pointed at.

Perhaps he should have been Fox _hound_ , instead.

Sit. Stay.

 _Kill_.

* * *

Futaba was the first person to catch him off guard in a long time. He hadn't expected the degree of control she exerted on anything technology related; but just as he began to wonder if he might have his work cut out for him, she turned around and handed him the keys to her heart—literally.

And once she had, he found himself at the helm of an unstoppable force; with Futaba on the team, they had no weaknesses. Not even Medjed could stop them, not when Medjed was one of them.

All that was left was to gather power until he could strike at the one who started all of this:

_Masayoshi Shido._

* * *

Ohya had no chance. She was a drunken mess. All he had to do was act aloof, and she was hooked. He had information she wanted, and he was going to use it to get what _he_ wanted. Simple.

Lala made things a bit more tricky; but not by much. She meant he at least had to be consistent.

Ohya was so trashed he doubted she'd notice even if he changed masks every time he came in. Hell, he could change masks mid-conversation and she might not notice.

What a joke.

* * *

Chihaya was a woman after his own heart; or so he thought at first. Selling a hunk of rock salt for a hundred _thousand_ yen?

 _Inspired_.

He had gotten closer to see if she could be useful; brought into the fold, even, if she turned out to be cunning enough.

But it turned out she had a 'heart of gold', just like all the rest. A victim of circumstances beyond her control.

A pity, too. He would have liked to have another mastermind around. Not one that was as good as him, no, that was dangerous. One that was good enough to appreciate his skill, and ruthless enough to go along with it. She had the former, but not the latter. And so she joined the ranks of his devoted followers, always wondering why her fortune had changed so abruptly.

For a brief moment, The Wheel of Fortune and The World had been linked side by side; now The World rested above it, just like all the rest.

An appropriately literal comparison, as far as Akira was concerned.

At least she was cute.

* * *

Tae was.. troublesome. She had few discernible motives at first, and she was highly suspicious. If she hadn't been his only source for medicine he wouldn't have bothered, but as it was he knew he didn't have any other options.

Fortunately fate had its eye on him, as it always did. One angry middle aged man and a sob story later, and he had all the leverage he needed to win her over.

The girl she saved seemed nice; it was always nice when his goals lined up with morality.

Nice, but ultimately secondary.

* * *

Kawakami was a maid. He had considered taking advantage of that fact on more than one occasion, but he knew that he was better off pursuing long term goals.

Surely she would approve; she was also a teacher, after all.

Was it not a teacher's responsibility to look after her students?

* * *

Old Man Tora was a godsend. Not only was he idealistic, he was willing to impart his wisdom in return for little more than standing and holding a sign.

He had the guile to withstand a political scandal, and the moral fiber to avoid using it.

Of course, this also meant he never expected Akira to use _him_.

* * *

Sae was uncrackable. Steadfast in the pursuit of her justice, and unshakable when she sensed weakness.

In short, she was _predictable_. It was easy to set things up so that she would lead herself to the conclusion she wanted to find.

It's easy to show people what they want to see. You didn't even need to have it, only something that looked even the slightest bit like it.

And Sae? She wanted to find answers, something that makes sense. Something righteous that made her feel good.

Akira was more than happy to give her just that.

* * *

Shinya was the only one Akira felt bad about. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time; the kid had an attitude that Akira respected, but it had to go. He needed what the kid had to teach him, and he couldn't get it without first breaking down the kid's walls.

He often wondered what could have been if he hadn't needed to.

What a waste of a promising protégé.

* * *

"Akira! This isn't like you!"

"Oh? And what would you know about what I'm like? And I'm not Akira."

"What would _I_ know?! Akira, we're _dating_!"

The Shadow-Joker smiled. "No, you're dating the Akira you want to see. And I told you, I'm not Akira. I'm better. I'm Joker; I'm everything he is and more. I'm every Akira all rolled into one. I'm everything he could possibly need to be." He gestured around at the empty Yongen-Jaya it had conjured, and it faded away, only to be replaced by the courtyard of the school, silhouettes aimlessly wandering with static for faces and two numbers on their backs, like a fraction.

"What.. what _is_ this?!" Panther's voice cracked.

"Simple. The world is what you make of it. If someone is too stupid to see they're being played, then they had it coming."

"Why the numbers..?" Noir's voice trembled as she spoke, afraid that her intuition was right.

"Some people are more useful than others. Some are useful because they're easy to manipulate; that's the bottom number. The bigger it is, the less trouble they're worth. But some are worth it anyway.." The shadow pointed at one silhouette in particular, and it stopped in its tracks.

It was clearly Makoto. The number on the bottom was an eight, higher than most of the others, but the top number was a ten. "You've been invaluable to me as the Phantom Thieves' second in command. You're good company too." He winked, and Queen growled.

"You _bastard_! _IS THAT ALL I AM TO YOU_?!" Joker threw his head back and _laughed_.

He laughed until tears rolled down his face. "Oh, you're all too cute! You think you _mattered_ in the grand scheme of things, don't you? Let me tell you something; you're all here because of one reason. Revenge. I set out to _end_ Masayoshi Shido for what he did to me, and you all were my golden ticket. Thanks, by the way." His grin grew wider. "Really, I couldn't have done it without you!"

"What the eff is wrong with you?! We _trusted_ you!" Ryuji gripped his staff—the one Akira had made him from one of his own Personas—so tightly his knuckles turned white under his gloves.

Joker tutted disapprovingly. "Ryuji, Ryuji, weren't you listening earlier? If someone is too stupid to see they're being played, then they had it coming."

" _OH YEAH? THEN EAT SHIT! GOD'S HAND!_ " Ryuji unleashed his most powerful physical attack; but Joker just laughed again.

" _Yoshitsune_." The fist crashed down, shaking the ground under their feet, but an impenetrable barrier prevented it from reaching its intended target. "I'm Joker, remember? That means I have his Personae; you can't possibly hope to win. You know this. You have to. You know what I've made, you _know_ that as long as I have Yoshitsune I'm nigh invincible. Sure, I take damage from fire, but it's reduced. Sure, gun attacks work fine, but you only have so much ammunition, and I think you'll have your work cut out hitting me to begin with. As for gun _skills_.. Why do you think I had Haru focus solely on Psi? For that matter, why do you think I had Morgana forgo Miracle Punch in favor of Magarudyne? None of you have the skills to take me down. Just go home. It's over. I'm not totally invincible.." Joker grinned once again, a hint of sadistic glee making its way into the familiar expression. "But I don't have to be. I just have to do more damage than _you_. Yoshitsune; _Charge_."

A swirl of orange light rushed up from the ground around him, and he jumped down to land gracefully in front of the gathered Thieves. The fall was at least 3 stories, but that same barrier formed as the false Joker landed, nullifying any harm he would have taken from a fall from that height. "Just go home. I have no interest in killing you."

Panther scowled and stepped forward. "Power of teamwork and friendship and all that, blah blah, we're taking your heart! Fire Break!"

Shadow Joker stopped in surprise as the skill shattered his resistance to fire. "Huh. I forgot you had that skill." He shrugged. "Oh well."

"Heat Riser!" Noir's voice called out, and Panther was surrounded by swirls of energy.

"Oh, goddammit. Alright, fine. If we're doing this, let's do it—" Shadow Joker was interrupted by Panther calling out again.

" _CONCENTRATE!_ "

"Okay this might actually be bad— _Yoshitsune! Hassou Tobi!_ " The ultimate skill of Yoshitsune tore into the Thieves, dropping Mona, Queen, Noir, and Fox in an instant.

When the dust cleared, Panther was still standing; Skull stood in front of her, his arms crossed defensively, the fire in his eyes never fading, even as his knees buckled. "..get.. that.. bastard..."

He fell, and with a furious battle cry, Panther unleashed the single most powerful fire skill she knew. "Hecate! _Burning Hell!_ "

"Well, shit—" Joker was enveloped in a column of blue-white flame more than a meter wide and nearly four stories tall. The fire raged on for far longer than normal; between Concentrate and the attack buff from Heat Riser, there was little question that this was the most damage anyone besides Joker himself had ever dealt in one hit.

As the flames faded, Panther could see a shape in the rapidly dwindling smoke. "Please have worked, if that didn't do it we are _so_ screwed."

In the center of a meter wide glass crater stood Akira. Not Joker, but Akira. He stood silently, then threw his head back and laughed. "One miscalculation. Just one tiny oversight. That's all it took to wipe me off the face of the Earth. Incredible."

Queen stormed up and grabbed him by the collar, cocking a fist back. "Give me one reason, _Kurusu_."

"I don't want you to be a murderer too." Queen blinked, clearly not expecting a—seemingly—selfless reason. Akira took this as a sign to continue. "I killed Shido, and now that you've beaten me, I'm starting to regret denying justice to everyone else that he hurt. Even before that, though, the fact that I gleefully killed a man still haunted me. If you kill me, you'll have to live with that and then some. No matter how angry you are, you still loved me. This isn't something you'll ever be able to forget." He shrugged. "I'm still the same person under all the masks, they were all part of me in some way or another. I'm never going to regain your trust. Any of you, but especially you, Queen. I know that. But the others outside the Metaverse? They don't know. And now that you guys put me in my place.. they might not have to."

Queen didn't move, trembling as tears rolled down her face. " _Why_? Why was it necessary to use me like that? You could have just let me be second in command without telling me you _loved_ me, so _why_? _Why did you have to break my heart too!?_ "

Akira sighed sadly. "I really did love you, Queen. I still do, for as little as that's worth at this point. I just viewed everything as secondary to my own plots and ambition; the world existed as a means for me to exploit. That's not to say everything I ever did was a lie; in fact, if I could help it I avoided lying at all. Easier to keep the story straight that way. I hadn't planned on falling in love with you, but I did, and I saw a way to have you without compromising the plan. I betrayed you, took advantage of your trust, used your skills and intelligence for my own ends." He looked up at her, and she was shocked to see that he was crying too. "But I never lied about loving you."

"You—you—"

Akira took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He closed his eyes. "I've said my piece. If my sentence is death even still, then so be it. Despite everything I did.."

He opened them again to look at his friends, one by one, ending with Queen. "I'm proud of all of you."

Queen let out an anguished cry, throwing him to the ground. She clenched her fists and screamed in frustration. " _Augh_! I hate you, Akira. I hate you for making me love you. I hate you for breaking my heart. But you know what the worst part is?" She choked back a sob. "I hate that even now, after everything, you have the gall to stand here and just.. just—" She turned away. "I'm leaving. Go back to yourself and repent, or whatever."

She began to walk away, until she noticed that the gazes of her teammates were still directed behind her. "I am Joker, and I am Akira, remember? This _is_ me, there's nothing else to go back to." She turned back to see him sitting up from where she had thrown him, pressing the heel of his hand to a cut on his forehead. The light she had grown so used to seeing was gone from his eyes. "I'll stay here until you guys go. You won't have to see me again if you don't want to. My train home leaves in two weeks, and then that'll be it; it'll be like I was never here."

This time it was Panther who stormed over, dragging him back to his feet by his collar and giving him a sound slap across the face. "Get a _hold_ of yourself, Akira!" She matched her first hand, gripping his collar and shaking him roughly with both hands. "This isn't like you! What happened to the guy who was determined to make things right, no matter what? Yeah, you fucked up, big time. But at the same time.." She let go, taking a half step back; her thief outfit dissolved. "You never hurt anyone other than us. And Shido, but.. I don't think I have room to judge you for that. I know I almost killed Kamoshida."

The Thieves who joined after the first heist all expressed varying degrees of surprise. "Ann.." Haru was the one to break the silence, taking a step forward. "Ann's right. You may have been selfishly motivated, but in the end, you did the right thing for the wrong reasons. You still put yourself in that interrogation room."

There was a heavy silence as they remembered the condition he had been in. "I'll never forgive those bastards for what they did to you." Ryuji kicked at the dirt.

Akira looked away. "I only did it because I didn't trust anyone else to do it right.."

"Then why did you react so harshly when Queen suggested she be the one to go?" Yusuke spoke up. "I distinctly remember you saying, and I quote, 'I _can't_ lose you. Especially not like that.'"

"Akechi was after me, it couldn't have been anyone else." Akira's protestations were growing weaker.

"And yet, you 'flew off the handle', as they say. Even if you valued your own plans over all else, you still made every effort to keep us safe, and to keep us from getting hurt any more than was absolutely necessary."

"You still took every Mementos request. Kawakami, Togo, Ohya, Oda, just to name a small fraction. You didn't have to help those people. It wouldn't have kept you from Shido. In the end.." Morgana looked up at him. "You're still the Joker we're all so proud of. You just needed a little help finding your way."

"Good thing you've got the best navigator ever on your side, huh? Besides, you promised me you'd be there for me when I needed you, and Sojiro thinks of you as the son he never had. You saved me from myself; admittedly because you needed my help, but I still owe you my life."

His teammates—his friends—all spoke up, one by one, their appearances returning to normal as they did.

Except for one. "Are we seriously just going to pretend this never happened?!" Queen's voice cracked. "How can you.. How can all of you just let this _go_?!"

Ann crossed her arms. "Oh, I'm _pissed_. But us Phantom Thieves gotta stick together. We didn't get this far by pushing each other away. We've had our disagreements," Morgana and Ryuji looked at each other sheepishly. "But we stuck together in the end. Yusuke tried to have us arrested," Yusuke nodded solemnly. "Makoto, you _blackmailed_ us," Makoto winced, her thief outfit finally vanishing too. "Futaba did too, technically, though that was more of a cry for help than blackmail."

Ryuji walked up and slugged Akira in the shoulder, who let out a quiet "ow," and then slung an arm around his shoulders. "You ain't gettin' away that easy, bucko. You admitted you were wrong. That's good. But it's not everything. So tell me, Akira; what are you going to do to make things _right_?"

Akira leaned into Ryuji, and he finally began to cry in earnest as the adrenaline of what little fight there was cleared his system. "I don't know," He wrapped his arms around himself. "I don't—it doesn't feel like I could ever hope to make up for what I've done. I took the trust and hope and _love_ that you all poured into me and I threw it away," He heaved a ragged breath. "How could I possibly even _begin_ to make up for _that_..?"

Morgana shrugged. "Is the world really so black-and-white? Who says you have to make up for it all at once? Take that internship with Old Man Tora, or apprentice with Chihaya to help people help themselves. Be the best big brother you can be to Futaba, and be a son Sojiro can be proud of. Or put more simply.."

"..be the Akira we thought we loved all along." Makoto finished Morgana's sentence, and he nodded approvingly. "You're not the man I fell in love with, but.." She walked back over and set a hand on his shoulder. "You are the man that _we_ fell in love with."

Akira broke down completely, doing his best to choke out what he wanted to say with what little articulation he had. "I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry, I _promise_ I'll do better, I swear I'll _be_ better," The Thieves crowded around, each laying a comforting hand on him in some way. "You're right," Akira nodded suddenly, and Makoto couldn't help but feel a faint fluttering in her stomach when he looked up.

That familiar light, that burning determination was back. It was Joker. _Her_ Joker.

..Her Joker. What did that even _mean_ , now? "Akira?"

He looked over at her, and a myriad of emotions flashed behind his eyes, and for a moment she saw the Joker she was used to seeing.. before that fell away, leaving a scared, hurt teenager.

The true Akira he had never shown to anyone. She continued. "I can't take you back, not now. But even as angry as I am, I can see how much you regret everything you've done. So go, make things right. Be the Akira I know you can be. Be the Akira I fell for, and if you can do that.." She took a deep breath, then continued.

"Then come find me, because I love that man with all my heart. This was your second chance, Akira. Make it count." The look of wonder and disbelief on his face was almost enough to make her dash into his arms anyway, ultimatum be damned, but she knew that it couldn't be that way, no matter how much she wanted it. Things were different now.

"I will. I promise, Makoto. I'll make things right. I'll become a man you can be proud of." He looked around at the others. "I'll become a man you can _all_ be proud of."

Things were different now, and that could never be undone. But..

A small smile. "I'll be waiting."

That didn't have to be a bad thing.


End file.
